A Night in Vegas
by Shadowsthebest
Summary: A daydream turned into a fanfic. Shadow gets dragged to Vegas. Rating will vary. Language and violence.
1. Chapter 1

So.

Here we are.

Just you and me.

First, a little backstory. Plus… some warnings.

I'm in the US Air Force k?

I know it's a silly claim, the Air Force?

The weak branch?

Not the Marines?

It's just the way things went after high school. Nothing to add.

The Air Force has a purpose, regardless of the whispers around it.

Anyway, last year I was in Vegas for this thing right?

Sort of a collection of militaries there to practice for the real thing.

No specifics for you guys, but I will say there is a lot to see in Vegas on downtime.

Vegas is where we'll spend most of our time in this story.

No reason, just the environment I needed for this story.

What is the story?

An idea.

A daydream that came to me while watching some poorly executed Netflix movie.

Vegas will fit in.

Now, obviously the original idea involved myself and some buds.

But…

No one cares for that.

This particular franchise had the best pieces.

The best characters for the narrative.

Granted, the characters may seem OOC from time to time, but I will do my best.

My interpretation of these characters come from games, shows, and the comics.

This will be AU, but you'll recognize something.

So, here we go.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Rating will vary as I relook at my work.

Sonic and whoever else belong to Sega.

* * *

Shadow opened his eyes and groaned.

"Monday."

He sat up in his bed and checked his surroundings.

Still his small apartment style barracks room.

Nothing special. Spartan really.

He slid out of bed and quietly padded to his corner bathroom to shower.

He muttered mental notes to himself as he let the warm water massage him.

"Customers….patterns…paperwork…delegations…"

He finally shook himself out of his reverie and turned the water off.

He stretched and toweled himself off as best he could.

Like he actually even cared…

He dug around for his uniform and put it on piece by piece.

Socks… boots…

He grabbed his hat and personal items and left the box of a room.

He locked his door and marched down the hallway.

He went outside to warm weather and jets doing drills.

The engines roared as they went by overhead.

Shadow watched for minute.

He then continued on his way.

First thing before work.

Firearm requalification.

Standard issue training for readiness so they say.

* * *

When Shadow arrived at the range, the class before his was already leaving.

Shadow glanced at his phone for the time.

"Fifteen minutes early. Habits." He muttered as he entered the classroom area.

Shadow found a seat off to the side. He didn't feel like a people person today.

He smirked at nothing, when was he ever a "people person"?

Rhetorical questions. Best weaponized sarcasm ever invented.

Other airmen began to file in.

He recognized most of them. He had been working at the base too long not to.

Some were customers at his duty station, others he had seen around base in varying circumstances.

Then Fiona the Fox waltzed in, dressed in the same uniform as everyone else.

Uniform uniforms.

Shadow bit back a groan and began vehemently muttering to himself.

He and Fiona had an odd past.

When he first arrived, she had took him under her wing and taught him the job till he was a ruthless, efficient machine, producing impressive results after just a couple of months.

In that time, they had become close friends. Almost brother and sister.

In fact, he remembered tag teaming a particularly annoying customer that had wronged a coworker, Cream the Rabbit.

Relationships, what a joke.

"Come on Vector, go home" Fiona had said.

It was late, the chow hall had closed hours ago. She and Shadow were waiting for the next shift, but Vector hadn't left for whatever reason.

"Aww, but I wanna hang with you pretty." Vector said with a slimy twinge in his voice.

Shadow hated this type of male. A horny piece of shit that brought dishonor to the uniform. Disgusting.

Cream sat off to the side giggling at Shadow's not so controlled face.

"Whatcha thinking about bro?" Vector asked, not aware of the danger he was in.

Shadow smirked darkly.

Fiona smiled, she knew what was coming. She knew how dangerous Shadow was.

"Thinking of how I could remove you from the building. Technically I would be in the right as we've been instructed to keep the building secure after hours."

Vector visibly blanched. The girls started laughing.

"On your way out, stop by the library and get a dictionary. Your use of the English language should be a crime." Shadow continued, standing, glaring into Vector's wide eyes.

Taking the large cue, Vector left shortly after that, to the trailing laughter of the girls.

* * *

Shadow shook himself out of his daydream. That event had been a least a year ago.

Things were different now.

Shadow was twenty.

Jaded by the hubris of it all.

Fiona spotted him and approached, a slight sway in her hips.

"Howdy Shadow. Beautiful day isn't it?"

Shadow shrugged.

Fiona laughed, sitting next to him. Unfortunately.

"So, ya need any volunteer opportunities? The booster club has a few I could get ya." She asked with a tease in her voice.

Ah yes, the booster club. Half of the problem that had changed Fiona.

"No." He answered. "Busy"

"You always say that."

"Just am."

"Sure ya are."

"So, guess what Shadow?" Fiona went on. "You need a vacation. I mean, you spend so much time in that kitchen, you need a girlfriend."

Shadow scoffed. "That's what everyone says."

Suddenly the instructor walked in and the classroom went quiet.

The bulldog looked over the class and said. "Good morning airmen."

The class, as one, replied, "Good morning sir."

"So today we will be going over using and cleaning your firearms."

Shadow drifted, he had heard this spiel may times before.

All about safety and such.

The class were issued their rifles and marched outside to the range.

As one, they practiced. Killing enemies of the patriotic values they had signed up to protect.

So they say.

When finished, Shadow and most of the class had passed.

They cleaned their weapons and left for their duty stations.

Fiona waved as she left for the gym, the change was still recent, left Shadow feeling sort of friendless. Sort of. He wondered if they had actually been friends.

No matter. Time to head to the chow hall and take control of his shift.

Being jaded as he was, he was responsible for a small group of airmen and for putting out the dinner meal for a couple hundred airmen.

Give or take.

The numbers always varied.

Such is his life.

* * *

When he entered the backroom of his station, Sonic and Antoine were at it again.

"C'mon man, you know that girl is hot." Sonic teased, holding out his phone, obviously with a picture from his spring break fling.

"Whatever. Hello Shadow." Antoine called out. Making a couple of heads turn.

Shadow gave a minute wave and continued on.

The kitchen.

Practically Hell's Kitchen.

Shadow smirked at his own joke and entered a small room referred to as an office, but never seemed like one.

He looked over some paperwork and gathered his shift.

Quality varied.

He assigned what he could, and resigned himself to completing at least forty percent of the meal himself.

Crazy? Not to him. He'd rather just do it himself at any rate.

One of those things…

Hours later when it was all said and done, the meal had gone more or less as expected.

Jaded hubris remember?

Shadow gathered his shift, delegated things to be done before leaving and went to file the day's paperwork.

Documentation. An Army thing that was practiced everywhere.

For better or for worse…

Shadow dismissed his shift, checked a few things, and left himself for the day.

He'd be back before long.

Shadow went to his room, shed his uniform, picked out some acceptable civvies and went to the bowling alley on base.

He ate a decent burger as he watched the latest football game.

His favorite team wasn't doing so well. Internal politics affecting teamwork or something.

After the burger he went to his room for the night. Resigned to reading himself to sleep again.

What else would he do?

Shadow woke the next morning and muttered.

"Tuesday."

* * *

A/N:

Well, our premise is set, the world building under way. Things shake up before long.

Review and tell me how boring it all is.

Remember, it gets better.

-Shadowsthebest


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: I feel like this story is going to face some edits once I "finish."

Sonic and co belong to Sega.

* * *

Tuesday:

Shadow arrived at work fifteen minutes early as per the norm he had long since established for himself. Why not? It's the expectation.

Too bad he was the only one who stuck to it.

Lunch was a mess. The morning shift had gotten off to a slow start and hadn't caught up to itself, which left Shadow and his shift to help iron the kinks out.

Déjà vu, Shadow could only think to himself.

Entrees were finished, starches smoothed off, and vegetables were steamed.

Shadow was steaming by the end of it, just as lunch opened.

Probably a new record.

He shook it off and went to go prepare for dinner.

No excuses, just results.

"So, what am I making today Shadow?" Amy asked as she skipped up next to him.

Shadow grunted and muttered something about proportions and ratios before replying;

"Just make the Steak and Potatoes, I'll cover the Bourbon Noodles."

"OK!" Amy agreed before skipping off to go tackle Sonic.

Again….

Sonic's scream at least brought a half smile to Shadow's face.

Manic appeared next, late as ever.

He got BBQ chicken, possibly the easiest thing on today's menu.

For good reasons.

Shadow suppressed a shudder at the thought of the "fish disaster".

Such poor craftsmanship.

With a sigh, Shadow went to go find Silver.

Silver was found talking to Tails about random stuff Shadow didn't care to translate from their chatter.

"Silver." Shadow stated, coming up behind him.

Silver jumped at Shadow's sudden voice.

He spun on his heel and waved.

"Hey Shadow!"

Shadow continued;

"I need you to handle the Hopping John Rice."

"OK-ay!" Silver beamed.

Shadow raised an eyebrow at his exuberance, but shrugged it off and walked off.

Silver and Tails continued their chatter, Silver destined to forget what he was assigned.

* * *

Shadow sat in the "office" muttering about chess pieces and recipes.

"Running the gauntlet once more." Shadow said to no one as he dug through binders for relevant recipe cards.

Shadow cut carrots and onions, browned his beef, and mixed in noodles and a generous amount of bourbon sauce.

He watched it cook for a minute of silence.

"Teriyaki sauce would have been better." Shadow muttered as he dished the hot food into large serving pans.

He looked around to the others.

Amy was the only one working.

Silver was still chatting with Tails. Even though Tails should have left by now.

Manic was looking a bottle of BBQ sauce, and his burnt chicken.

Shadow rolled his eyes and set to work.

Tails was shooed off, and Silver redirected to work.

Manic was lectured about sugar burning and given fresh chicken.

Amy then tackled Shadow, thinking he was Sonic.

Again.

Shadow embraced his newfound whiplash by staring at the celling, ignoring Amy's frantic apologies.

* * *

Shadow limped into his room that night and leaned against his closed door.

He shut his eyes and wondered why he bothered.

Manic's new chicken still seem a little crispy, but Shadow drowned it in BBQ sauce and went on with the circus.

Amy's steak seemed off, and Shadow couldn't figure out why.

Oh well, it'll come to him at three in the morning.

Again.

Silver's rice dish was passible, though the rice itself seemed undercooked.

Soggy even.

The vegetables were almost forgotten, if not for Shadow's inbuilt timer and checklist.

Shadow waved the events off and went to shower and read himself to sleep.

* * *

Wednesday passed in a similar fashion.

Shadow went to work, worked with his shift to produce an excellent meal with bumps here and there, regardless of personal cost to his sanity.

That night he swam at the gym.

Just to cool off and burn off the heat of his anger towards it all.

By Thursday, Shadow was in poor shape.

Manic had screwed up the fish again.

Damn him.

Shadow had gotten in his face and went off about quality and such things.

Of course, Manic looked zoned out as per the usual.

So now Shadow was in his "office" rubbing at a headache and muttering darkly.

"You know Shadow, you really need a vacation." Came a familiar voice.

Shadow looked up, and sure enough, it was Fiona.

"What do you want?" He asked.

Fiona laughed.

"Grumpy still? It's three in the afternoon." She teased.

Shadow shrugged in response.

She laughed again.

"Tell you what, I'll do you a favor. Here." Fiona said, holding out a plane ticket.

Shadow took it and looked, it was a plane ticket to Vegas for the weekend.

Shadow raised an eyebrow.

"The commander gave it to me to give to some airman thanks to the Booster club!" Fiona beamed, quite proud of herself.

Shadow squinted at her, pondering.

"Fine." Shadow finally agreed.

"Cool! Met me here Friday night! Bye!" Fiona said, already running off.

Shadow shook his head and looked at the ticket.

How bad could a little vacation be?

* * *

Friday came and went mercifully.

Shadow found himself waiting outside of the barracks with a bag parked at his feet.

He was wearing his customary black hoodie with his own symbol on the front, dark blue jeans, and nice black leather boots.

The usual getup.

Fiona appeared suddenly, obviously excited for the trip.

"Let's go! Let's go!" She cheered.

She was wearing a camo t-shirt and blue jeans. Plus some white sneakers.

They got in her car and drove off.

The drive was quiet, slow chatter going back and forth as they compared the gym and the chow hall.

Leadership, coworkers, shifts, nothing was safe from their analyzing.

Common ground of course.

They arrived at the airport without much fanfare.

They waited in lines to check their bags in.

Then, lines at Security.

Then Food.

And finally, boarding the plane itself.

Thankfully the plane took off without any problems.

Ya know, explosions, malfunctions…

Russian airspace…

Terrorists…

The crazy stuff.

* * *

The flight wasn't too long. Vegas was only a few states over.

As the plane approached the city, the lights grew, and the beauty of Vegas was mesmerizing.

The plane landed without issue and taxied to the gate.

As Shadow and Fiona exited the plane, Shadow snorted at the sight of slot machines.

The two took in the casino style of the airport as they looked for the baggage claim.

Suddenly a red anthro swept Fiona off of her feet.

"Hi Fiona!" Knuckles boomed.

He was dressed in a dark tank-top, tan shorts, and his customary red shoes.

"Hey Honey, look who I brought!" Fiona said, pointing at Shadow.

Knuckles looked at Shadow, who was watching their antics with a raised eyebrow.

"Heh, good to see you too hedgehog." Knuckles said, laughing.

The trio collected the traveler's bags and went to Knuckles' car.

A shiny Mustang, red of course.

As they drove to the hotel, Knuckles and Fiona laughed, kissed, and whispered to each other in the most sweetly sickening ways possible.

Shadow felt nauseated by the time the group had arrived.

Knuckles and Fiona got their own room, of course, which left Shadow on his own.

"Well, we are off to go have fun by ourselves. Good luck Shadow!" Fiona said, with a tease in her voice.

"Heh, leaving one twenty year old by himself in Vegas?" Shadow laughed.

"You'll be sorry!"

Fiona spun around to retort, only to see Shadow was gone.

He had disappeared into an elevator, off to find his room.

* * *

A/N: Well, here we are; Vegas.

Cue the fireworks.

As always, review and tell me how boring it all is.

Remember, it gets better.

-Shadowsthebest


End file.
